Environmental & Analytical Toxicology

Evaluation of the Levels of Some Heavy Metal Contents of Street Dust in Some Parts of Yola Metropolis, Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Philip M, Louis H, Magu TO, Fidelis TT, Maitera ON and Opara I

Automobile emission and anthropogenic activities has been found to constitute a major sources of air pollution. This work investigated the level of some heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Fe and Zn) in street dust of Bachure, Chemistry Department, Jaga-Jaga Market, Vonuklang and Shinko, Adamawa state, Nigeria. The results showed that the highest and lowest metal concentrations were found in the heavy traffic sites, anthropogenic activities and control sites respectively. The concentration of Pb was observed to increase from 1.24 μg/m3 in Bachure to 2.89 μg/m3 in Shinko. Cd was also observed to increase from 0.016 μg/m3 in Bachure to 0.066 μg/m3. Fe was observed to be between 18.60 in Bachure to as high as 34.80 μg/m3 in Shinko, while Zn was observed to be between 2.4 in Bachure to as high as 5.4 μg/m3 in Shinko. The concentration of all the heavy metals were observed to be higher than the permissible health limit for urban areas recommended by environmental protection agency (EPA).